Posted by craig on March 02, 2005 at 08:28:01:
Thanks for the help…im finding good deals, but i guess im a little “gun shy”. thanks again
Best practices for that first offer! - Posted by Craig
Posted by Craig on March 01, 2005 at 13:37:32:
I am new to real estate investing, and need some advice on how i should make that first offer when i find a property that i can think is a good deal. Should it be verbal…in a letter…on a contract…any advice that you guys have would be greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance.
Re: Best practices for that first offer! - Posted by Chris
Posted by Chris on March 02, 2005 at 06:56:54:
When you purchase real estate, you must put this in written form. Many people put together a “Letter of Intent,” which spells out most everything that will eventually be in the Purchase Agreement, but is not binding on either party. Some tips I’d give anyone wanting to buy are: give yourself an “out” like making the “offer contingent upon a survey, structural inspection, environmental inspection, pest and mold inspection, all of which must yield results acceptable to the Buyer.” Most standard contracts have this in some form anyway. A problem I’ve ran into in the past is surveys, too. Sometimes what the person even has a Warranty Deed to doesn’t really mean they own it as described. Neighbors may be encroaching, or they may even have a deed that overlaps the property you want to buy. (Yes, this happened once.) And the resulting survey bill is huge! So, in your offer to purchase, I would put in something to cover you like, “Buyer will pay the first $XXX of the survey, Seller will pay all amounts above this amount.” I’m not an attorney, so you may want to get some help with the language on these thoughts, and see what is legal and what is not in your area, but putting a couple of these in there should help protect you. Good luck!